William hewitt



(No Model.)

W. HEWITT.

METALLIC FABRIC.

No. 314,576. Patented Mar. 3l, 1885.

' A Unirse VSTATES Parenti" trice.

VILLAM HEVITT, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO 'I-HE TRENTON IRON COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

METALLIC FABRIC.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 314,576, dated March 31, 1885.

Application filed October 20, 1884.

Z` ctZZ whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM Huwrr'r, a citizen of the United States, residing in Trenton, New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Metallic Fabrics, which can be used either for fencing, for the making of screens or bed-bottoms, or for such other purposes as metallic or wire fabrics are ordinarily applicable to, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is the construe tion of a cheap, durable, mechanically simple, and easily-manufactured metallic fabric.

To the above ends my invention consists in the combination, to form a metallic fabric, of

a series of spirali y-twisted metallic stri ps,.rods or pieces with a series of twisted wire cables con nected in predetermined relationship to the twisted strips by having their strands embrace said strips, substantially in the manner shown and described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view. of a section of a fabric embodying my invention, and adapted for use as, for instance, a bed-bottom. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are transverse sectional magnified views representing three formsof twisted strips, which are equally wel] adapted for use in the formation of my fabric.

Similar letters of reference indicatel corresponding parts.

In the drawings, the spirally-twisted strips, rods, or pieces are designated by the letter A, while the cables which unite them to form the fabric are lettered The spirally-twisted strips are preferably formed from' a strip of vsheet metal or other malleable metal product produced by rolling, which is sectionally of greater breadth than thickness. Thusfor instance, in Figs. l and 2 these strips are represented as twisted from tlat strips of metal of rectangular cross-section, while in Fig. 3 a strip is shown the section of which is elliptical'. Again, in Fig. 4 a strip is represented down the center of which has been rolled a double bead, a, and the edges of which are slightly rounded. The form of the metal product or blank from which the twisted strip is made is therefore not essential, the only pre- 5o requisite condition being that it should be of such sectional outline as to permit of its being twisted to form a well-defined spiral iu the resulting completed strip.

The office of the spiral twists of the strips is to retain from displacement the strands or wires composing the cables, which latter, in being twisted about the strips, lodge, so to speak, or seat themselves, aboutgivenspiral twists of said strips, and are thereby held in position.

The fabric is convenientlyproduced by iirst forming the spirally-twisted strips, and by then twisting the wires orstrands rwhich form the cables in such manner that in the act of the formation ot' the cables the said strands 65 spread around or embrace the spiral strips, lodging. as already explained, in the turns or twist-s of said strips and embracing them.

My device is applicable for use as a fence by making certain ofthe spiral strips ofgreater 7o 'length than others, as indicated in dotted lines by (LX in Figsl, so that the prolonged ends maybe embedded in the ground, and the strips of which they are a part he thereby made to act as posts for the fence.l the adjacent spiral 7 5 strips-in such employment becoming the piekets of the fence. It is also possible to employ wooden posts and apply the fabric to them, and, if desired, between the posts one or more prolonged strips may be provided.

In the drawings l have represented cables composed of two strands only. More than two stands may, if desired, be employed, although I prefer to use but two.

It is essential that the spiral twist-s of the strips should be sufficiently well defined to form seats about which the strands of the cables may firmly seat themselves, so that the cables cannot be displaced with respect to their position longitudinally upon the strips; 9) and this is an important feature ofthe invention, for, were the conditions otherwise, it is apparent that it would be possible to Withdraw or pull out any particular twisted strip, and thereby destroy the fabric.

It is of course apparent that while the ca bles cannot move longitudinally withrespect to the twisted strips, they cannot also move iu the direction of their own length, and this for the reason that any such movement is preroo vented by the fact that their strands embrace In testimony whereof I haveliereunto signed 1o the twisted strips. my nime this 15th day of October, A. D. 1884.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- WM. HEWITT.

As a new article of manufacture, a metallic 1 a fabric composed of a series of spirally-twisted In presence ofstrips, rods, or pieces of metal and of a series Ff C. LoWTHRoP, J r.,

of wire cables the strands of which embrace the J. BoNsALL TAYLOR.

strips, substantially as shown and described. 

